Arturo Rodríguez was born in the small town of Ranchuelo, province of Las Villas, Cuba on February 6th, 1956. At the age of ten his interest in art was awakened by his aunt Silvia Rodríguez, who gave him pencils and papers and what few art books were available.

In 1971, his family went into exile in Spain, living first in Asturias and later in Madrid, where Arturo Rodríguez “discovered” the Prado Museum. It was at the Prado where he encountered the work of both Velázquez and Goya; their depictions of the human figure and the very nature of painting as found in their canvases had a great impact on him.

In 1973, his family settled in Miami, where he completed high school and studied life drawing very briefly at Miami Dade Community College. It was at this time that Rodríguez came in contact with the great music of the United States: blues and jazz. This music, with its element of both grief and improvisation provided the artist with important elements that would develop in his work.

During the 1980s, Rodríguez continued to travel throughout Europe, revisiting Spain to study again the works of the 17th century Spanish masters and of Goya, and Italy, where the painterlyness of the Venetians (Giorgione, Titian, and Veronese) also provided significant lessons.